James Bond author Ian Fleming's brutal two-word assessment of Sean Connery

Earlier this summer, Denis Villeneuve was announced as the director of the next James Bond movie. The French-Canadian filmmaker is currently shooting Dune Part 3, meaning a new 007 actor could be announced this autumn. The decision is undoubtedly a difficult one, with producers facing a similar issue back in 1962 when the first Bond film Dr. No was greenlit.

David Niven, Patrick McGoohan, James Mason, Rex Harrison, Stewart Granger, and Richard Burton. All were approved by James Bond creator Ian Fleming to play the role of his infamous secret agent. All fell through.

Meanwhile, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman lined up Cary Grant to launch the 007 franchise. Unfortunately, at 58, he was only interested in making one film, not a series.

The casting process became increasingly torturous, with adverts placed in trade magazines. A young Roger Moore was even considered. Ultimately, producers settled on Sean Connery, but Fleming was adamant that the Scottish actor wasn't right for the role.

According to Variety, Fleming allegedly told his film agent Robert Fenn when Connery was cast: "He's not my idea of Bond at all, I just want an elegant man, not this roughneck."

The outlet claimed that he was apparently angered by the fact the actor "couldn't speak the Queen's English". Despite his disappointment, Broccoli's wife Dana saw something she liked and persuaded her husband to meet him again for lunch.

The Scotsman - who died back in 2020 - started badly, turning up rumpled and unkept, in an era when presentation was everything, but turned up the charm and charisma, and channeled the swagger needed for the role.

Dismissive of the casting, Fleming fumed at the time: "I'm looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stuntman." He also opposed the choice of Terence Young as director, initially wanting Alfred Hitchcock.

He even advised his friend and millionaire businessman Ivar Bryce not to invest in the film. He warned: "Showbiz is a ghastly biz and the last thing I want is for you to lose your pinstripe trouser in its grisly maw... now, of course, do I want the first James Bond film to be botched."

When Fleming met Young at an industry event he blasted: "So they've decided on you to f*** up my work". Connery was aware of what was going on at the time, insisting: "They couldn't afford most of the people they wanted.

"That was the start... I never got introduced to Fleming until I was well into the movie, but I know he was not happy with me as the choice." Connery also delivered a beautifully subtle combined insult and compliment: "What was it he called me, or told somebody?

That I was an over-developed stuntman. He never said it to me. When I did eventually meet him, he was very interesting, erudite and a snob - a real snob. But his company was very good... for a limited time... for me."